Rob Vanstone: Sincere thanks to everyone at Regina General Hospital
Rob Vanstone offers thanks to everyone at Regina General Hospital for the amazing care provided to his mother after a weekend health scare.
by Rob VanstoneRobservations …
• This column comes to you from Unit 5E of Regina General Hospital. As of this writing on a Sunday afternoon, I am watching the NFL with my sainted mother, G. Helen Vanstone-Mather. Mom was admitted Saturday morning after experiencing acute symptoms related to high potassium. By the end of the night, she was feeling considerably better. Sincere thanks to the doctors, nurses and health-care professionals of all descriptions who were so wonderfully kind and compassionate to Mom, and to our entire family, on a very difficult day that concluded with smiles all around.
• Please allow me to (hopefully) clarify my opinion regarding the hiring of Jason Maas as the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ offensive co-ordinator. Some valued readers have wondered, quite understandably, how I can advise the Roughriders to retain Stephen McAdoo (whose contract was not renewed by the CFL team) and subsequently applaud the hiring of Maas. From this standpoint, there are two distinct issues. (1) The sentiment here was that McAdoo’s body of work merited a contract renewal. (2) When an extension did not materialize, the Roughriders hired a highly credible successor.
• What was the tipping point re: McAdoo? Nobody is saying. But, really, it had to be the play-calling during the fourth quarter of the West Division final against the victorious Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Mosaic Stadium on Nov. 17. Up until that point, it was very difficult to poke holes in McAdoo’s strategy. Once the playoffs arrived, it was a different story. Needing one win at home to earn a Grey Cup berth, the Roughriders flopped on offence. Perhaps a parallel can be drawn to show business. If you knock ’em dead on the dinner-theatre circuit, dazzling rapt audiences from Peoria to Sheboygan, does it matter if you subsequently bomb on Broadway?
• Thirty-three years in this biz and “Sheboygan” finally makes it into a column. This is a milestone. Please hold your applause.
• There was a stronger case for parting company with McAdoo after a 2018 season in which Saskatchewan eked out a league-worst 25 offensive touchdowns. The offence, led by CFL all-star quarterback Cody Fajardo, improved its output by an average of one touchdown per game in 2019, yet ties were severed with McAdoo.
• Be careful with preconceptions. Once upon a time, some Roughriders fans voiced apprehensions about the appointment of Kent Austin as head coach. A championship season ensued in 2007. And remember when the signing of defensive back Dwight Anderson was widely lamented? Anderson proceeded to help the 2013 Roughriders win a Grey Cup, providing shut-down coverage on elite receivers and making a series of key plays. Maas is reputedly emotional and combustible, but that should not disqualify him from being a productive and exemplary employee of the Roughriders.
• One of the great joys in life is listening to Peter Loubardias describe NHL games as part of the Calgary Flames’ radio crew.
• Nice people who deserve a plug: Dr. Hettie Bouwer, Dr. Lisa Harasen, Tyler Wood, Donella Hoffman, Joseph Fuller, William Fuller, Derrell Rodine, Heather Persson, Dr. Mark Anderson, Kelly Remple, Peter Loubardias, Clark Munroe, Sam Berg, Foster Barnsley, Dheeraj Bista, Paul Twomey, Hassan Sleem, Daryl Shirkey, Wanda Harron, Dave Harron, Lona Hegeman, Tom Fuzesy, Cal Filson, Megan Willis, Thelma Loyst, Kim McCormick, Melissa Pawsey-McCormick, Drew Lock and, of course, Mom.